Silverdocs 2005 announced its slate of 89 films from 43 countries selected from 1,300 entries, a festival record-breaker. The documentary festival, which will take place June 14-19 in Silver Springs, MD, includes 7 World, nine North American premieres, as well as a three-day international documentary conference. Opening the event is the Cannes 2005 doc “Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream” by Stuart Samuels, which explores the phenomenon of ’70s cult films such as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,”“Pink Flamingos,” and “Eraserhead.”

From New Directors/New Films is Rachel Boynton‘s “Our Brand is Crisis,” a look at Washington, DC-based political consultants James Carville, Bob Shrum and Stan Greenberg who export US-style politics to South America as they advise a former Bolivian president on his reelection campaign, with unintended consequences. As part of Silverdoc’s ‘Outdoor Movies and Music’ program, Kate Davis and David Heilbroner‘s “Pucker Up, the Fine Art of Whistling” and “Grizzly Man” by Werner Herzog are among the offerings slated to screen June 16-17.

On Saturday of the festival (June 18), Silverdocs will host a “God Save The Dirty Joke” panel discussion with Matt Cooper from Time magazine, and comedians Paul Provenza, Gilbert Gottfried, Judy Gold, Fred Willard and others as they “address comedy’s unique role in commenting on social issues and challenging our notions of acceptable speech.

The festival will close with Michael Sheridan‘s “James Dean: Forever Young.” Narrated by Martin Sheen, the film celebrates Dean’s life and career and the power of his legacy. The film includes rarely seen clips from his early television appearances and exquisite still photographs by Phil Stern and Dennis Stock.